What about Photoshop for the photojournalist?

Gary Smith, a photographer for the Advocate many years ago who now works as a photojournalist for a newspaper in a Washington DC suburb, sent an interesting response to my rant on Photoshopped images being passed along the Internet. I hadn't even considered the journalistic quagmire presented by the ability to manipulate digital images.

Because some sensationalistic newspapers thrive on scams, visual and otherwise, and while all, or most, magazine cover photos are beautified by image manipulation, serious photojournalists are worried that they might be suspected of scamming though it would the last thing they'd consider doing.

Gary sent me a link to a report by the National Press Photographers Association regarding the doctoring of photos published by the Toledo Blade and the subsequent firing of the photographer. This is the link to that story.

Gary uses a method for preservation of the integrity of unmanipulated vs Photoshopped (manipulated) images. Whenever he uses any Photoshop tool beyond lightening, darkening, cropping, color-correcting or sharpening, his work becomes “Photo illustration by Gary Smith” and not “Photo by Gary Smith." That's how he can righteously call himself a photojournalist and alert local readers about what's going on. Great idea that ought to become standard practice.